Japan – Off the Telly and On the Heart of GodJon Petersen - 10 Nov 2011

It is fascinating how short the news cycle lasts.  A disaster today and, POOF, it is vaporized in the human mind by the next tragedy.  But the lack of attention in no way minimizes the ungoing suffering resident in the people of the land.  Fortunately, the attention span of a tragedy-buffeted culture is no match for the broken heart and eternal attention span of Creator-Father.
 
On March 11, 2011 the nation of Japan was forever marked, and yet today they are recovering at a remarkable pace.  The physical recovery is dramatically chronicled in this photo chronology.  

The spiritual recovery will take much longer.   So many of the tragedies in history seem to have resulted in getting the attention of the people of God.  Though Japan is now well down the news cycle list, Father’s attention is tuned to the Japanese and global Church to see how we respond to both the tragedy and the opportunity.   One of the great opportunities lying at our disposal is the reordering of biblical spirituality in Japan, from a western template to a more innately Japanese profile.   Japanese temples and idols dot the land giving the Japanese regular availability to their “gods” and to their prayers:   “put clothes for your dead child’s wellbeing  on the roadside idol”, “tie your prayer to a tree”, “receive the prayer blessing of a priest on your new child, business or enterprise.”    What a context  for the people of God to introduce the ever-loving, ever-available God of all of life to the Japanese nation.  With prayer relegated to “prayer meetings” and Christian buildings, the nation misses the reality of Father’s available love in the midst of tragedy, sorrow and life’s basic challenges.  What an opportunity to be busy attending human need, while operating  in a spirit of peace, unity and the power of persistent,  “everywhere” prayer.

Summarizing I Tim 2:1-3, Paul instructs Timothy to “pray for all men at all places…for God is not willing that any should perish but all should come to a knowledge of the truth. “   Paul was propagating a lifestyle of prayer that was trans-geographical, trans-experiential, and without bias to any person. Prayer reflects the heart of the Father for his whole creation.  


We just placed our first team member in Japan for an extended time this Fall.  On the weekend she arrived, she found herself alone in a home in a Japanese neighborhood with no contacts, no money, and no knowledge of where she was (for three days).   Being addicted to adventures with God, she promptly goes for  a walk to look for a place to pray for Japan.  Upon coming to a temple lined with stone idols, sentinels for dead children, she comes to the center of the room, begins to dance and lifts her heart to worship the Lord.  This is not normal missionary protocol, but the liberated heart of a grateful child of God, longing to bless a nation that is waiting for Father’s love.

24-7 Prayer teams have made six trips into Japan since March 11, 2011.  The result of networking, learning, listening and praying over the nation has been a steady stream of prayer teams being deployed into the nation.  Our heart has been to send people who carry the virus of prayer and would encourage the hearts of believers while modeling a stronghold breaking power in prayer. 

These teams have enjoyed praying for Christian relief workers and disaster refugees, giving them words of encouragement, setting up prayer spaces and lifting burdens.  One team, just returned from Tohoku (hardest hit by the tsunami), visited a relief base, and served the local team through manual labor, rhythms of prayer and teaching on hearing the voice of God.  The response to these purveyors of prayer has been encouraging and has resulted in increased invites to aid and inspire the church, relief workers and youth in a new way of hearing and talking to God in all aspects of Japanese life. 

24-7 Prayer will continue to be involved in five relief locations in Tohoku as we go into next year.   Teams are forming now in preparation for bringing a spirit of prayer to the Japanese people, while mobilizing a prayer space in Yokohama  for prayer and training God’s people in the art and privilege of communication with God and the spiritual renovation of a broken land.

Anyone interested in joining a 24-7 Prayer, “Prayer Journey Team”  in Japan in 2012, kindly contact Katie Cornick.